London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has confirmed it will add its new Azuma trains to the route connecting Edinburgh, the North East and King’s Cross from 1 August.
The first Azuma train to depart from Edinburgh will operate the “Flying Scotsman” service leaving Waverley station at 0540. It will call at Newcastle at 0705 and is due to arrive at London’s King’s Cross at 0940.
The inaugural northbound train to Edinburgh departs London at 1730.
LNER began rolling out the Azuma earlier this month on the London-Leeds and Hull routes and is planning to introduce 65 of the trains across its network to replace the existing fleet of 45 trains on the East Coast Mainline over the next 12 months.
The company says services operated by the Azuma will be clearly highlighted on its website so passengers can book tickets to experience the new state-of-the-art trains.
Rail minister Andrew Jones said the government worked closely with Transport Scotland to upgrade platforms at Edinburgh Waverley station to accommodate the longer trains, which offer more seats on the route.
According to LNER, a new timetable planned for December 2021 will offer more regular journeys between London and Edinburgh that take four hours.
David Horne, MD of LNER, commented: “The launch of the first Azuma trains to and from Edinburgh and the north east of England is a pivotal moment for LNER in demonstrating the transformation of services for our customers and communities that we serve. Establishing new standards in rail travel is part of our DNA, and the new Azuma trains are already making the customer experience better than ever. They will transform travel for customers with improved reliability, greater levels of comfort and an average of 100 more seats on every train compared to the current fleet.
“From improved wifi and extra legroom to being more environmentally friendly and accessible to more people, the Azuma experience is a real revolution in rail travel.”
lner.co.uk